Bang bang! Sometimes it’s nice to see a movie with Asian Americans that’s not about ninjas, samurais or martial arts. Check out the official trailer for Bang Bang, an independent film starring Thai Viet G and David Huynh. The gritty film follows the friendship of two young men from opposite sides of the track who find their friendship torn between gang warfare. It’s refreshing to see Asian American male roles that aren’t relegated to emasculated or asexual characters–and also a film that delves into a world of Asian gangs, a topic that often doesn’t receive much attention in pop culture, so I’m looking forward to seeing how well this film will be received. Bang Bang should hit the film festival circuit sometime in 2011.

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TienVNguyen

“It’s refreshing to see Asian American male roles that aren’t relegated to emasculated or asexual characters”

These were my sentiments exactly as I paused my Taylor Swift CD and put down my Hello Kitty doll to watch this trailer..powerful stuff.

On a serious note though I’m really looking forward to this movie, although it’s been my experience that trailers for Asian movies hype them up a little too much for me. Maybe it’s because I’m just so used to american movies that non-American produced movies don’t seem nearly as polished–or I just get so excited to see my own people in a movie for once that once I see the final product there’s no way that it can live up to expectations.

See Better Luck Tomorrow (awful) and Journey from the Fall (powerful but just lacking in terms of refinement).

Jbee

I agree that, “It’s refreshing to see Asian American male roles that aren’t relegated to emasculated or asexual characters,” but at the same time I don’t like how in place of those stereotypes, the movie might just enforce another Asian stereotype: that of the hyper-violent, troubled Asian male youth. Hopefully this isn’t a repeat of the some images portrayed in Gran Torino. I probably don’t need to remind people remind people of one of the movie’s most infuriating lines: “The girls go to college, the boys go to jail”

moye

@Jbee I had the same thought. I did wonder why the other option of portraying API male characters had to go into gangs and violence, and if this sort of portrayal could be more harmful. My other question was if this film would be an accurate portrayal of some of our API youth communities or are just feeding the idea that masculinity equals guns, violence and pretty girls?

I think, though, that a lot of our Asian male teens are troubled and a lot of the times, it’s not really acknowledged.

Fia

“Sometimes it’s nice to see a movie with Asian Americans that’s not about ninjas, samurais or martial arts. […] It’s refreshing to see Asian American male roles that aren’t relegated to emasculated or asexual characters–and also a film that delves into a world of Asian gangs, a topic that often doesn’t receive much attention in pop culture”

Asian American gangs—
Baby (2008) “A tragic tale of an Asian youth’s gang life in South East Los Angeles, set during the mid 80’s to the early 90s.”
Bullets, Blood & a Fistful of Ca$h (2006) Vietnamese
Stryker (2004; re-released in 2006) Indian Posse vs. Asian Bomb Squad (Canadian but the Asian gang has two Asian Americans so it counts)
Gran Torino (2008)
Romeo Must Die (2002)
China White (1989)
Honor (2006) (Double strike! Martial arts and an Asian gang)
New Jack City (1991)
China Girl (1987)
Undoing (2006) (Sets in LA’s Koreantown)

There are more. Not only that, when the mainstream audience think of HK films they think of the Triad and when they think of Japanese films, they think of the Yakuza. When they think of Chinese people in old British or American films, they think of Fu Manchu and the like. Flash Gordon, Big Trouble in Little Chinatown and Thoroughly Modern Millie, anyone?

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) and Yellow (1998) are the only films I know that portray the everyday lives of Asian teenagers if we discount the fantastical elements, such as – in BLT – scamming, drug dealing and *cough* murder (partly inspired by a real-life murder, apparently; location, method and all) and – in Yellow – the get-as-much-money-as-you-can-to-save-his-arse! craziness and the violence.

There is a couple of TV series that fare a bit better. Right now: K-Town the reality show, perhaps? It’s web only, though. I’m not talking about K-Town (2009), directed by Steve Royall — “Three couples. Two Reporters. One question. Why are Asians so popular? Rochelle Evans ask this question after her friend Karen Blackwell loses her boyfriend of two years to an Asian girl.” Charming(!)

My cousin tried to get the funding for his film for years. People weren’t interested because it was a cross between Dazed & Confused and Empire Records. One told him “Your people (characters) need to be MORE ETHNIC!” like he should include scenes of kung fu fighting, gang war, or family & food. Another questioned him why some of his characters have English names as this person felt it wasn’t “authentic” enough. After seven years, my cousin said screw this and wrote novels instead. lol. He isn’t the only one who struggled with this.

There are decidedly fixed expectations on how a film with the Asian cast should be, regardless of a genre. We believe funders aren’t interested if a story is universal, e.g. can be performed by the white cast, so the story has to have a “distinctive Asian flavour” to justify the funding and the Asian cast.

As for asexual, I can think of only four films that feature Asian actors as love interests or have love interests that don’t end with death. There are more with interracial relationships, but mostly Asian women and white men. So I agree that Asian men have the worst luck in the love & relationship department where films are concerned. Asians in YA novels have way better luck for goodness sake! (Friends and I still debate whether we could classify Keanu Reeves as Asian American actor. He has the best luck in that department if yes.)

Fia

@TienVNguyen “Maybe it’s because I’m just so used to american movies that non-American produced movies don’t seem nearly as polished –or I just get so excited to see my own people in a movie for once that once I see the final product there’s no way that it can live up to expectations.”

Are you saying there is no quality film among 70 years’ worth of non-American Asian films? I find that incredibly hard to believe.

jeffat8asians

@Fia “I can think of only four films that feature Asian actors as love interests or have love interests that don’t end with death.”

I’m curious – which four are you thinking of?

Fia

@jeffat8asians

Saving Face (2004) (Contemporary. Two Chinese American women fall in love.)
Picture Bride (1994) (1920s? A woman goes to Hawaii as a picture bride.)
Finding Madison (2008) (Contemporary. An American artist figures out her love life)
Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989) (WWII. A Chinese American soldier married a Chinese-born woman and struggles to start a new life in the US with her.)

I haven’t seen The Joy Luck Club so I don’t know how it ends. (I got so sick of people mentioning the novel to me throughout my teens that I avoid the novel and its adaptation altogether.) Worth seeing?

I can’t think of any made between 1960s and early 1980s. Well, I have heard about an American romantic musical film with all-Asian cast and a happy ending, but I haven’t seen it yet — Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1961).

Then again, I haven’t seen films featuring either Sessue Hayakawa (one of most highly paid Hollywood actors and a popular heartthrob for many female film-goers during the 1920s) and James Shigeta, who both apparently had better luck as romantic leading actors.

Fia

@jeffat8asians Sorry. Clarification: All these four films feature Asian American actors with successful love lives, hence the mention of Saving Face. While Saving Face focuses on two women, there is in the background a blooming hetreosexual relationship.

raymonst

i’m kinda on the fence… on one hand, like you said, it’s nice to see a film that doesn’t portray asian men as asexual/emasculated.

@Fia @jeffat8asians Wow. Finding Madison sounds like a good movie, but it only has 80 views on the YouTube trailer.

White on Rice has a AF/AM couple, athough it makes no sense since the AM is complete creep. “Why am I doing this?” has an AF/AM. A lot of the Wong Fu movies have it. They’re out there, but I agree–few and far between.